Marble Collegiate Church

New York, New York

A new neighborhood public space has been designed as a reimagined “Church Yard” landscape which showcases Marble Collegiate Church as a free-standing landmarked architectural gem. Moshe Safdie’s urban plan for an infill residential tower reveals the Church’s rear façade as part of a publically accessible forecourt. HMWhite developed the court design as a garden piazza. By extending the Church’s historic cast-iron fence across the piazza’s street frontage, the “new” with “old” is seamless merged as a welcoming gateway. An Elm tree bosque inside the fence draws and comforts visitors into a quiet garden sanctuary. The piazza establishes an expanded common landscape precinct, which sits above subterranean Church sponsored program facilities. Permeable crushed stone fines surface allows the trees to thrive while supporting through-block circulation or leisurely public assembly. Quiet private seating nooks offer places for rest and reflection. The sight and sound of water sheeting over the building’s glass awning into a narrow water runnel will further distinguish this neighborhood destination as one of New York’s favorite future public gardens.